Daniela Piana is Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science, University of Bologna, Italy.

'This path breaking book points to the salience of accountability in assessing the role of actors in judicial reforms and the impact of rule of law promotion on the quality of justice. In doing so the author effectively casts a new light on EU, and other IOs, in contributing to the quality of a democracy.' Leonardo Morlino, Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane, Italy 'Daniela Piana has provided a wide ranging but integrative treatment of judicial "accountability" of immense value to comparative legal studies and then related it to developments in the newer member states of the EU. The volume will be welcomed by anyone interested in the "constitutional" development of the EU or political development more generally.' Martin M. Shapiro, University of California, USA 'Piana offers a nuanced empirical comparison on a range of measures examining how courts in the five nations she studied fared. I found her comparisons of perceptions of corruption, efficiency, impartiaity and independence of each nation and the EU 27 particularly interesting.' The Law and Politics Book Review

• Introduction; Chapter 1 Logics of Action, Hypotheses and Impact; Chapter 2 European Standards of Judicial Governance; Chapter 3 Beyond Legal Accountabilities: Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic; Chapter 4 Highlights and Shadows in Bulgaria and Romania; Chapter 5 Judicial Governance as a Mirror of European Constitutionalism; conclusion Conclusions;

Daniela Piana is Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science, University of Bologna, Italy.

'This path breaking book points to the salience of accountability in assessing the role of actors in judicial reforms and the impact of rule of law promotion on the quality of justice. In doing so the author effectively casts a new light on EU, and other IOs, in contributing to the quality of a democracy.' Leonardo Morlino, Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane, Italy 'Daniela Piana has provided a wide ranging but integrative treatment of judicial "accountability" of immense value to comparative legal studies and then related it to developments in the newer member states of the EU. The volume will be welcomed by anyone interested in the "constitutional" development of the EU or political development more generally.' Martin M. Shapiro, University of California, USA 'Piana offers a nuanced empirical comparison on a range of measures examining how courts in the five nations she studied fared. I found her comparisons of perceptions of corruption, efficiency, impartiaity and independence of each nation and the EU 27 particularly interesting.' The Law and Politics Book Review

• Introduction; Chapter 1 Logics of Action, Hypotheses and Impact; Chapter 2 European Standards of Judicial Governance; Chapter 3 Beyond Legal Accountabilities: Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic; Chapter 4 Highlights and Shadows in Bulgaria and Romania; Chapter 5 Judicial Governance as a Mirror of European Constitutionalism; conclusion Conclusions;

Daniela Piana is Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science, University of Bologna, Italy.

'This path breaking book points to the salience of accountability in assessing the role of actors in judicial reforms and the impact of rule of law promotion on the quality of justice. In doing so the author effectively casts a new light on EU, and other IOs, in contributing to the quality of a democracy.' Leonardo Morlino, Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane, Italy 'Daniela Piana has provided a wide ranging but integrative treatment of judicial "accountability" of immense value to comparative legal studies and then related it to developments in the newer member states of the EU. The volume will be welcomed by anyone interested in the "constitutional" development of the EU or political development more generally.' Martin M. Shapiro, University of California, USA 'Piana offers a nuanced empirical comparison on a range of measures examining how courts in the five nations she studied fared. I found her comparisons of perceptions of corruption, efficiency, impartiaity and independence of each nation and the EU 27 particularly interesting.' The Law and Politics Book Review

• Introduction; Chapter 1 Logics of Action, Hypotheses and Impact; Chapter 2 European Standards of Judicial Governance; Chapter 3 Beyond Legal Accountabilities: Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic; Chapter 4 Highlights and Shadows in Bulgaria and Romania; Chapter 5 Judicial Governance as a Mirror of European Constitutionalism; conclusion Conclusions;